Frank Ordoñez / The Post-StandardSyracuse University football sophomore wide receiver Kyle Foster will miss the entire 2012 season recovering from a lower-body injury.

Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse University football coach Doug Marrone acknowledged for the first time Tuesday at the Big East’s annual football media day in Newport, R.I., that sophomore wide receiver Kyle Foster will miss the entire 2012 season recovering from a lower-body injury. Foster was one of several SU wideouts who missed at least some of spring ball with injuries, and it was long rumored on Internet chat boards that one of them would be lost for the season. Tuesday, Marrone made it official.

On the surface the loss of Foster is not great considering two other injured veteran receivers – senior Alec Lemon and sophomore Jarrod West – will be ready to go Monday when preseason camp opens and the corps has been bolstered by the return of senior Marcus Sales from a one-season absence. Foster (6-foot-3, 207 pounds) played in seven games last season, mostly on the kickoff coverage team, and did not make a catch. He was best remembered for having a Ryan Nassib pass ricochet off his shoulder pads and into the arms of a Rutgers defender in the end zone, a play that helped set the stage for a 19-16 double-overtime loss.

Yet, Marrone was excited about the player’s maturation during the early part of spring ball and sensed Foster was about to emerge as a major asset to a unit that has lacked a big-play wideout for several years now. The injury, a freak one suffered in a non-contact drill, ended those prospects.

“I’m disappointed with that because we were trying to get him involved in the offense last year, and he’s a big, very talented kid,” Marrone said. “But (now) we’re not going to be able to talk about him until next year.”

Joining Marrone in noticing a change in Foster during spring ball was Lemon, who watched from the sideline while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.

“In the spring he was taking big steps,” Lemon said. “He was focused. He was doing everything right. He was looking like he was going to be a big part of the offense.”

Instead, Foster was one of 14 SU players who watched the annual spring game from the sideline. He will join starting left offensive tackle Justin Pugh, tight end Louie Addazio and perhaps offensive lineman Kris Curtis as players still there when camp opens. Marrone said the others who were banged up in the spring should be ready to go.